Saturday, May 20, 2017

Hometowns

“Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they
have to take you in.”

Robert Frost from The Death of the Hired Man.

Everybody’s from somewhere.Some of us are from big metropolitan areas, others from rural villages
and towns. I’m not saying one is better than the other.As a city dweller, I’m more comfortable with
concrete and blacktop than with cows and corn. That’s my preference for where I
live. It also has an impact on my stories.

Setting can play as important a role in a story as a
character can.Imagine Spiderman
residing in a small rural town in Kansas, rather than the skyscraper filled
Manhattan. What in the world would he swing from?

My novels are primarily set in the metro Detroit area, where
I lived for many years. I know that territory so well, that I can still find my
way around the various freeways and highways without breaking out a map or God
forbid, a GPS device. But it’s not enough to know the roads. You need to know
the stores, the classy restaurants and the dives, along with the numerous great
bars.It’s my goal to include some real
establishments in my tales, so those who live there or are familiar with the
area, might recognize them. It builds a connection with the reader. And you
never know where that little connection might lead.

Here’s an example from “Fleeing Beauty” where Malone, Jamie
and her step-father Bert, have just left a meeting with the lawyers handling
her father’s estate.

Although Bert had taken the day off, Malone was still scheduled for duty
at three.Bert took us for a late lunch
at the Elwood Bar and Grille. Directly across the street is Comerica Park,
where the Detroit Tigers play. When the new stadium was being constructed, the
bar had been uprooted and moved to this new premiere spot.After ordering, Bert leaned back in his chair
and looked at me for a moment without speaking.

“What?” I asked.

“Do you want to tell me your
plan? Not that I have any doubt in my mind you can do it, but I am sort of
curious.”

“Peter Richmond has been a
mystery to me for most of my life. Vera did very little to keep his memory
alive. This is an opportunity for me to find out more about him. And I couldn’t
stand the idea of a bunch of strangers, who have no idea what they’re looking
at, tearing open those crates and drooling over his art.”

The intensity of my response
surprised all of us, including me. Bert folded his hands on the table. Malone
chose that moment to take a sip of his coffee.

“Well, if it was up to me,”
Bert said, “I’d start with a whole bunch of dust mops.”

“Shop vacuums will be one of my
first purchases. I’m thinking two, along with some brooms and a few tools.”

Malone nodded sagely. “I’ll
help you pick out some tools. A good heavy cleaning will be necessary before
you do anything else. Are you thinking about putting Ian to work?”

“He is definitely on my short
list of candidates.”

Bert knew all about Ian
MacKinnon. He was just finishing his freshman year of high school and as fate
would have it, he went to the same Northville high school where Linda taught.
His father, Asa, was an old friend of Malone’s who was killed in a car accident
last August. Malone was an unofficial big brother to the kid and he spent a few
nights a week at our house. I knew that by the end of the week, Ian would be
out of school for the summer.

“Do you think his mother would
mind if I hired him?”

Malone shook his head. “She’ll
be happy to get him out of the house. But you’ll need to work around his
practice schedule. And they may have a couple of tournaments in early July. But
I don’t think that will be a problem.”

Our food arrived, mushroom
cheeseburgers for me and Malone, a bacon blue cheese burger for Bert.
Conversation faded as we ate, but my mind kept spinning about the possibilities
that I might find in those crates.I
glanced down at my purse, where the keys to the building were buried under a
copy of my father’s will. Was all this really happening?

By the way, if you're a fan of rock and roll, NPR Music just released this great music video.

Hometown Reads

Why 319?

Devious

Vanishing Act

Fleeing Beauty

Fade Away

Pages

About Me

Yes,
my name really is Mark Love. I am a Michigan native, who up until recently
lived in the Metro Detroit area, where crime and corruption always seem to be
at the top of everyone's news. So there's always the chance to find something
that can trigger a story idea and enough interesting characters to jump start
your imagination.

While I have worked in many
industries and career paths over the years, one of my passions has always been
writing. I was even able to parlay that passion for a while, working as a
freelance reporter for a couple of newspapers in the Detroit area. Writing
features and hard news helped me hone my talents. But while newspaper worked
was interesting and paid a few bills, it was a far cry from the fiction writing
that I enjoy the most.

I've always been drawn to mysteries
and thrillers, the kind of stories that have a fast pace, that keep you moving
and keep you guessing as to what's going to take place next. Mix those in with
some elements of crime, perhaps a glimpse of the seedier side and you've got
me. So it's always been one of my goals to write stories like that.